[Homeplot 2009] Secret Invasion

[forhawkeye]

Have you ever have a dream that was so vivid, so extraordinarily detailed that, despite the fact it was also so utterly absurd, it somehow didn't make it seem any less real? That's what Tabula Rasa was for me. Months of memories and experiences...all of it the result of a knock to the head.

I never left the invasion.

All around me is chaos. Skrulls and heroes and villains alike, all fighting for control of the planet, and the sound -- oh my God, the sound -- is deafening. I wince as I pull myself up from the ground, absently noting that I'm in full uniform. And why shouldn't I be? I never left the invasion. And so all those people I knew...they were all figments of my imagination. Nate, Serena, Alice, Mikal, Yorick, Remy... I always assumed Felix wasn't real, anyway, so he doesn't come as much of a surprise, but it makes perfect sense, now, how there could possibly be a Tony Stark who hadn't betrayed everyo--

"HAWKEYE, LOOK OUT!" yells Patriot -- Eli -- and he's already running towards me before I have a chance to react. In what feels like slow motion, I turn to see what I'm supposed to be looking out for, but I don't register what it is until after he's shoved me out of the way, and the ground behind us is engulfed in fire, courtesy of a Skrull Human Torch. "What the hell's wrong with you?!" he asks, though the edge of panic in his voice is all too clear, and he grabs me by the shoulders. "Now's not the time to get PTSD -- we haven't even gotten to the 'post' part yet!"

I nod mutely. A few seconds pass before I find my voice again. "I'm fine."

"You don't look it," he says.

A Skrull falls dead beside us. We both turn to see who's responsible, and we're greeted with a loud whoop as a grinning Bullseye pumps his fist in the air and dives back into the fray. I feel like I'm going to be sick. Instead I clear my throat and stand up straight, shoulders back. "I'm fine."

The corners of his mouth quirk upwards in a smile, and he nods approvingly. Well, at least one of us is convinced. I guess that's better than nothing, right? Giving my shoulders one last squeeze, he then takes a step back and nods towards the fight. "Let's get to work."

"Yeah," I say, reaching into my quiver to draw an arrow. "Let's."

Comments

[asinglechange.livejournal.com]

"To rest and reload?" Alice didn't usually need that sort of thing, but she can see how others might. Can't depleat the arms store or something.

"So these guys are the rival species?"

[mutant-gi-jesus.livejournal.com]

"One of them," he replied as he moved closer so they could cover each others backs. "They're called Skrulls. I can give you a formal introduction later."

"Good job they attacked you," he added thoughtfully as he grappled with an attacker. "Saved you having to pick a side."

[asinglechange.livejournal.com]

"That is awfully handy." Alice somersaults out of the way. A lot of her fighting tactic is about avoidance until she can exactly pinpoint a weakness and attack strategy. It's just easier that way.

"Though I would have picked you guys. Since I've never been a Skrull before."

[mutant-gi-jesus.livejournal.com]

"Good to know," he replied casually as he drew his gun again and shot the alien trying to wrestle him. His tactics were all about staying firm, taking whatever was thrown at him and then using the opening to strike back.

Her last sentence had given him another such oppurtunity.

"If you used to be human, would it be rude to ask what you are now?"

[asinglechange.livejournal.com]

Taking a tiny run, Alice leaps onto the shoulders of one these so-called Skrulls. Wrapping her legs around its neck, she grabs hold of its head and twists, ripping it off in a mess.

"Yuch," she say throwing it aside as she leaps to the ground. "Vampire. That's what I am now."

[mutant-gi-jesus.livejournal.com]

Cable nodded as he ducked an incoming lightning blast. That was about what he'd been expecting.

"Interesting."

It was very telling, he thought, that she wasn't human any more like she had been on Tabula Rasa.

[asinglechange.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. Ain't it just? Though it's one of the more boring things about me."

It is just what she is. Like some people are immigrants or born with cleft palets. This is her special form of specialness. Something like that.

[mutant-gi-jesus.livejournal.com]

Cable grinned again as he returned fire at the Skrull trying to blast him.

"Don't promise anything you can't back up, Alice. Now I have very high expectations."

[asinglechange.livejournal.com]

"Oh don't worry. I aim to please."

This isn't exactly true but it isn't a lie either. Alice just likes that now people can depend on her in the way they used to. No ifs, ands or buts to say the contrary.

[mutant-gi-jesus.livejournal.com]

"You've just been given a chance to," he told her as he dodged another lightning blast. His bullets weren't doing anything, which meant someone needed to close the gap.

"What's your durability like?"

If she was invulnerable to electricity, then it would be a big help.